Random Little TidBits - November 2016

TidBit #1

I read this book at the beginning of the month, and quite frankly am wishing that I had commented on it at the time.  I am at a loss on this one.  It came in one of my FaithBoxes and I read it.  But apparently didn't get much out of it.  It's about being a good leader, and I am recalling it had some good stuff in it, but if you have been a good leader for a while, this might be a little elementary for you.  

TidBit #2

"As the spiritual seed of Abraham, we are called to be far more intentional about building a heritage of faith into our children."

Beth Moore ~ Believing God

TidBit #3

Dave Meyer ~ Speaking From The Heart

Saw this live, and it's just as powerful on video as it was in that arena!

"What we do not challenge in the beginning we lose our freedom to keep in the end" #DaveMeyer

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. – Hosea 4:6 NIV

TidBit #4

How to Gird Up Your Loins

TidBit #5

 Judges 13: V6 - "A man of God came to me and his countenance was like the countenance of an Angel of God" V20 "the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the alter, then Manoah knew".

Why do we have to "SEE" in order to "KNOW"? John 20:29 "Y'shua said to him, "Because you have seen Me have you believed? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." That's the definition of faith. Yet if we are not constantly reminded of HIS presence we start to doubt. 

Father, help me to "know that I know that I know" always, even when you are silent and testing me!

TidBit #6

Judges 20:41

"And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed, for they saw that evil had come upon them"

The men of Benjamin had been so convinced that they were fighting for what was right against the Children of Israel, that many went to their deaths in combat. Only to have their eyes opened after the fact that what they stood for was wrong.

How many of us in the world today, are fighting on the wrong side?

How many are listening to Satan's lies?

Please read your Bible, and talk to God!

TidBit #7

I spent the last year in this devotional.  Thinking it would stuffy stuff from Rev. Graham, but it wasn't. This gem contained some really good stuff.  

TidBit #8

This book also came in FaithBox and is about Enneagrams.  It's a really good resource if you are into that sort of thing.  

TidBit #9

Let me tell you a story.  I lived in Horatio for 6 years, at this time in my life I smoked.  I would sit on my front porch smoking cigarettes, reading a book, and I would get a visit from a mockingbird almost every day.  I loved this visit.  He would land on the shephards hook in my flower bed or on the basketball goal and would sing to me for a few minutes before flying off.  

He was the thing I would miss the most about Horatio. We moved to Helena, Arkansas so that I could take a teaching job.  I was still a smoker.  And would sit on my front porch.  There were two holly bushes in the front yard.  A mockingbird built a nest in one of the bushes, and sang to me.  I joked that my Horatio bird followed me. 

Not even there a year, we moved to Fort Smith.  Almost a year later, I quit smoking.  Don't spend much time outside being still, so I've missed my Mockingbird.  

We converted our dining room into my office.  There is a patio window that I sometimes leave open, with the screen pulled shut.  I sometimes have hummingbirds glare at me through the screen, especially when their feeder is empty.  I've had a bird or two fly in for a visit and right back out.  

This past Saturday, after not being in my office for almost a week.  I walked around the corner to enter the room, and sitting on this computer was a mockingbird.  He must have come in the back door the day before with one of the kids or the dogs.  But sitting pretty as you please on my computer HE was!  I slid the door open and out HE went.  Ok maybe he didn't go out quite that easy, but he did make it back outside.  

Thank you Father, for saying hi to me.  And letting me know that YOU are still with me!

 

TidBit #10

Class

According to dictionary dot com there are 29 definitions of the word class. NO wonder the English language is the hardest language to learn.

I’ve pulled out definitions #12, #14, #16, #26, and #29 for further review:

12. excellence; exceptional merit:

14. Informal. elegance, grace, or dignity, as in dress and behavior:

16. Informal. the best or among the best of its kind:

26. Informal. of high quality, integrity, status, or style:

Verb phrases
29. to improve the quality, tone, or status of; add elegance, dignity, style, etc., to:

It saddens me today, looking at the members of my generation and those younger than me, that the word class seems to no longer be something we understand, nor care about.

Rioting in the streets shows an absolute lack of class. (Notice I said rioting, not assembling. Assembling is ok, and protected). Throwing a temper tantrum in order to “get your way” not protected and shows an absolute lack of class.

Looting your neighbors and destroying their property, shows an absolute lack of class.

Violence of any kind, shows an absolute lack of class.

Name calling, hair pulling, defecating in the streets (yes I am stuck on that one) shows an absolute lack of class.

I am so sorry your parents didn’t bust your ass when you were growing up and teach you about class. It’s time you figured it out on your own, and start acting with some!

Dignity and integrity, to me stand out in the definitions above. I’d like to see these characteristics come back to America!

TidBit #11

Seven Cardinal or Deadly Sins

• Lust:  Matthew 5:28
• Gluttony:  Proverbs 23:21
• Greed:  Ephesians 4:19
• Laziness:  Proverbs 15:19
• Wrath:  Proverbs 15:1
• Envy:  1 Peter 2:1-2
• Pride:  Proverbs 16:18

TidBit #12

Romans 3:31

"Do we then cancel the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law"

For all my friends, that probably aren't friends anymore. If you grew up with "Replacement Theology" being ingrained into your psyche... please spend some time in Romans. It's very illuminating.

Replacement Theology, to the best I have found, originated with Marcion, who was later deemed a heretic for this concept. However, before he was squashed, the concept grabbed hold with a lot of people, and has as of yet not been corrected.

Satan is very good at twisting and perverting the truth! And many many many people are still being taught "RT" today! And it saddens me that so many people don't know the Word today, so they can refute the lies. Please get in your Bible and learn God's Word for yourself.

TidBit #13

Monday, November 14, I struggled with a question from my Bad Girls of the Bible book.  Why was Jericho destroyed?  I could not ascertain a satisfactory answer from myself, or the other ladies in book club.  

I asked God numerous times throughout the week for the answer to this question, to no avail. 

Until Friday.  On my drive to Tulsa, I was finally able to get quiet enough to hear HIM.  "I destroyed Jericho in order to show MY children the fullness of my glory and to show the world the completeness of MY promises."

Thank you, Father, for aanswering and for reminding me - that sometimes I need that quiet time to hear your half of the conversation!

TidBit #14

I do love Ms. Moore.  BUT... she does love to kill us with homework.  :D

I started this study, before the Entrusted study.  It is a lot of homework on this one, and doing it at the same time as the other, which had even more homework was really hard.  I won't be doing another Moore study for a while.  

That being said...  I got a lot out of this study.

1.  God is who He says He is.  

2.  God can do what He says He can do.  

3.  I am who God says I am. 

4.  I can do all things through Christ. 

5.  God's Word is alive and active in me. 

I loved learning those 5 statements, and plan to carry those forth after the study!

Ms. Moore, you did an EXCELLENT job on this one!

TidBit #15

I have, as most of you know, for a long time, had a problem with the line in the Apostle's Creed that stated that Y'shua descended into Hell.  I guess my problem lies mostly with the definition of Hell. 

Some versions say Sheol, Hades, Hell when talking about what happens after the first death.  And this is where Christ "went" according to the Apostle's Creed.  There are some very vague references in the New Testament, but I certainly don't glean from the NT all that others do.  

I found The Gospel of Nicodemus: Christ's Descent into Hell.  It very neatly ties up the questions I have on a lot of subjects.  Christ's descent into Hell.  What He did while He was there.  The dead that walked Jerusalem after the Resurrection.  What did Pilate do after the Resurrection.  

Just a lot of questions I had, tied up all to neatly with answers.  Author unknown.  And apparently did not surface until the 3rd or 4th century.  So if it's really the Gospel of Nicodemus as given to Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimethea, and Gamaliel, as well as Annas and Caiphas, then why did it not appear until the 3rd or 4th centuries.  There's just a lot suspect in this one, especially the complete neatness of answering the lingering questions.

Hell: A Final Word - I found to be wonderfully written, and right in line with my thinking.  I have yet to find any confirmation in the Bible of Hell being a place of eternal torment.  And this book, goes from Genesis to Revelation exploring the definitions presented of Hell, and what happens to us, if we were to go there.  

Fudge also explains quite in depth, the lengths that our current church goes to to maintain the image of a place of eternal torment, rather than a final (second) death, and eternal destruction.    

Evidence of Red Sea Crossing

I absolutely stole this right off of someone elses website (just so I would have quick access to it for myself!) Click here to go to that website:  Evidence of Red Sea Crossing Evidence of Red Sea Crossing by Donald P. Moss

The following article was prepared by unknown source concerning Ron Wyatt's explorations seeking evidence for the Israelites' Red Sea Crossing: (At Left photo) THE EXODUS ROUTE - With the correct crossing site in the Gulf of Aqaba. (At right Photo) The Egypt and Saudi sides show approximate path of crossing. Confirmation of the actual Exodus route has come from divers finding coral-encrusted bones and chariot remains in the Gulf of Aqaba. One of the most dramatic records of Divine intervention in history is the account of the Hebrews' exodus from Egypt . The subsequent drowning of the entire Egyptian army in the Red Sea was not an insignificant event, and confirmation of this event is compelling evidence that the Biblical narrative is truly authentic. Over the years, many divers have searched the Gulf of Suez in vain for artifacts to verify the Biblical account. But carefully following the Biblical and historical records of the Exodus brings you to Nuweiba, a large beach in the Gulf of Aqaba , as Ron Wyatt discovered in 1978. Repeated dives in depths ranging from 60 to 200 feet deep (18m to 60m), over a stretch of almost 2.5 km, has shown that the chariot parts are scattered across the sea bed. Artifacts found include wheels, chariot bodies as well as human and horse bones. Divers have located wreckage on the Saudi coastline opposite Nuweiba as well. Since 1987, Ron Wyatt found three 4-spoke gilded chariot wheels. Coral does not grow on gold, hence the shape has remained very distinct, although the wood inside the gold veneer has disintegrated making them too fragile to move. The hope for future expeditions is to explore the deeper waters with remote cameras or mini-subs. (ABOVE: GILDED CHARIOT WHEEL - Mute witness to the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea by the Hebrews 3,500 years ago.) Found with metal detector. Pics above - Coral-encrusted chariot wheel, filmed off the Saudi coastline, matches chariot wheels found in Tutankhamen's tomb. Chariot wheel and axle covered with coral and up-ended. Mineralized Bone - One of many found at the crossing site (above center). This one Tested by the Dept. of Osteology at Stockholm University , was found to be a human femur, from the right leg of a 165-170 cm-tall man. It is essentially 'fossilized' ( i.e. replaced by minerals and coral), hence cannot be dated by radiocarbon methods, although this specimen was obviously from antiquity. Pic at right - Solomon's memorial pillar at right photo marks exodus path at the sea's edge.  When Ron Wyatt first visited Nuweiba in 1978, he found a Phoenician style column lying in the water. Unfortunately the inscriptions had been eroded away, hence the column's importance was not understood until 1984, when a second granite column was found on the Saudi coastline opposite -- identical to the first, except on this one the inscription was still intact! In Phoenician letters (Archaic Hebrew), it contained the words: Mizraim (Egypt); Solomon; Edom; death; Pharaoh; Moses; and Yahweh, indicating that King Solomon had set up these columns as a memorial to the miracle of the crossing of the sea. Saudi Arabia does not admit tourists, and perhaps fearing unauthorized visitors, the Saudi Authorities have since removed this column, and replaced it with a flag marker where it once stood. How deep is the water? The Gulf of Aqaba is very deep, in places over a mile (1,600m) deep. Even with the sea dried up, walking across would be difficult due to the steep grade down the sides. But there is one spot where, if the water was removed, it would be an easy descent for people and animals. This is the line between Nuweiba and the opposite shore in Saudi Arabia. Depth-sounding expeditions have revealed a smooth, gentle slope descending from Nuweiba out into the Gulf. This shows up almost like a pathway on depth-recording equipment, confirming it's Biblical description: ... a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters.' (Isaiah 43:16). The Bible writers frequently refer to the miracle of the Red Sea crossing, for it was an event which finds no equal in history. The Hebrew prophets describe the sea at the crossing site as '... the waters of the great deep ... the depths of the sea .' (Isaiah 51:10). Knowing the exact spot to which the Bible writers were referring, what is the depth there? The distance between Nuweiba and where artifacts have been found on Saudi coast is about 18km (11 miles). ( Right Illustration: Model of depths at crossing site.) Along this line the deepest point is about 800m (2,600 feet). No wonder that inspired writers of the Bible to describe it as the mighty waters. And no wonder that not a single Egyptian survived when the water collapsed in upon them. (At right NUWEIBA BEACH - The spot where the crossing began.)